Commentaries

from Rolfe Winkler:

Shareholder activism is a tactic typical of Carl Icahn, not the Oracle of Omaha. Yet Warren Buffett has issued a press release asking other Kraft shareholders to reject Kraft's proposal to use up to 370 million shares of stock to buy Cadbury.

from Rolfe Winkler:

Last month Treasury released the latest data on banks that missed their payment obligations under TARP. The number increased to 56 in November from 33 in August. Here's a chart summarizing the problem:

from Rolfe Winkler:

This feels like a report that deserves a full hour. Who are some of the tax cheats that have been uncovered? Who are the UBS executives that knew about and condoned the illegal behavior? Interesting nonetheless.

from Rolfe Winkler:

Bankers get $4 trillion gift from Barney Frank (Reilly, Bloomberg) David pours over HR 4173, all 1,279 pages of it. He finds some interesting nuggets. One of the bigger problems I see is the proposed insurance fund that would pay for resolving systemically dangerous banks. Talk about moral hazard!